Kid's Corner

I left with a group of four from Anchorage Friday morning to head out to Caribou Creek. We set out to climb Kid's corner from bottom to top. This is one of my favorite climbs that is set back inside a tight canyon. It was 2 degrees when we left the car around 11am.



The climb is a series of short pitches that fall down in between two rock walls. In between each pitch there are flat decks of ice that wind through the rock until you get to the base of the next pitch. It's a really beautiful place that inspired me to climb more in my first year of ice climbing.





You can only get there if you ice climb. I think that is what drew me to it. The first year I rapped in with a few friends and top roped a bit on one of the middle pitches. Last year Kim I went out with the intention of climbing up from the bottom but got shut down on the first pitch. It was a bit over our heads at the time. I went back later on the way back from Nebesna and climbed it with Jayme, but we only had time to do two pitches.



So this was my first time climbing from bottom to top. Dean led the first pitch, which is still a bit over my head when the ice is hard. Then we swung the lead back and forth until we got to the top. Carlene and Kari teamed up and climbed behind us. This was my first lead with a pack on and it turns out that after I started climbing I couldn't even feel it.





We climbed with our packs all the way to the top and then walked out on the trail just as the sun was setting. It was a perfect day.

Thanks to Dean for the photos...